About half of Palestinians killed during operation Pillar of Defense last November were civilians, according to a new report by B'Tselem, an Israeli human rights organization, published on Thursday.

During eight days of the conflict between Israel and the Hamas- ruled Gaza, 167 Palestinians were killed by the Israeli military. At least 87 of them were civilians, who did not take part in the hostilities, the report found. Among them were 31 juveniles, who are about 35 percent of the casualties.

The report is based on interviews with eye witnesses, data dispatched by the Israeli Defense Force (IDF) and Palestinian records.

"Our investigation shows that at least in some cases Israel violated international law," Yael Stein, research director at B' Tselem and author of the report, told Xinhua.